Case 1.5 Should Public Schooling Be Redefined

I believe that the federal government should have more say in education system. Educational funding should have nothing to do with local tax dollars, especially the property taxes. Funding schools mainly through property taxes has made the education disparities among different areas worse and worse. The property taxes should be collected into a federal fund which will be distributed among schools according to student needs and school sizes. The federal government can also use this fund to expand or build more new schools in economically disadvantaged areas to reduce the school crowdedness and large class sizes. Another thing the government can do is hiring more qualified teachers by increasing salary and benefits to attract better

The state of Pennsylvania is focusing on the debate over how the state has funded the education system, which means the public school system. All the candidates note that the state has a duty to ensure that their children are educated so they can continue on into adulthood. They also have tried to empathize with voters about how they feel that the government is failing to fund public schools in particular in an adequate enough way. During the campaigns, none of the candidates really presented any solutions to the issue besides to increase funding. One candidate, Christine Donohue however was heavily endorsed by Pennsylvania’s Federation of Teachers. This shows that this federation believes in her ideas and ability to reform the education sector of the state. Also, Donohue has come out and said the reforming the education system is something that she holds as a priority for her time as a justice for the state. This means she has a clear purpose, like those we learned in class for her campaign and potential in

American public education has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past several hundred years. This transformation not only includes technology and appearance, but diversity and policies as well. However, an age-old question is still being pondered today. What is the purpose of American public education? Although you may have your own answer for this question; not everyone may agree with you. This is where the problem resides. How can one purpose be suitable for everybody? The point of this paper is to informatively examine and explain the purpose of American public education through different perspectives.

Budgets for public education have continuously been cut. From 2008 to 2013, about 20 billion dollars has been cut from public education. Personally, I see these cuts because I'm a student in high school.

Public schools seem to be focusing only on subjects that are being tested for state funding really beneficial to the student? This is true, for I asked a few teachers; although some of this can be true facts the author, Diane Ravitch, does not cite from credited sources anywhere in the reading. Ravitch wants parents and policymakers to shift public education away from testing to a full liberal arts curriculum.This program tied school funding to standardized test scores in Math and Reading and as a result schools put their resources into testing and test prep for those courses. Ravitch argues that our education reform programs like, “No Child left Behind Act,” led to cuts in important parts of the curriculum and in order to focus on those we see cutbacks in funding in other areas. I believe public schools are not giving kids the best education they deserve. They simply are giving them an education that in return allows for good state funding. Ravitch believes the first place to start is to look at what most involved parents are demanding of their children’s schools.

Public schools are operated at the state level through the department of education, and locally through the school districts. Public education reform has taken many directions throughout history. Change is ongoing and implemented by educators who understand the importance of giving children a

This rhetoric, which suggests that public education is failing, is not only misleading, it is dangerous because it may erode public confidence in the very institutions on which our capacity for a democratic response depends.Criticism of public education has continued unabated since the publication of A Nation At Risk in 1983. Stimulated in large part by new international economic realities, by a domestic economy based on traditional production models, and by changing domestic demographics, the critics have sought solutions to these challenging problems by turning to schools and educators. The data cited by critics of public schools were accepted at face value until the late 1980's. However, since

Schooling is a very important part of the culture of the United States. Numerous amount of kids attend public schools everyday, but are those schools ran by their communities or by the federal government? The local government should be the one that mandates the schools because learning happens on a personal level, standardized testing doesn’t help students, and the common core doesn’t allow the local government to have control over the school in their community.

Over the years, people of higher authority have put public school funding on a low budget. As stated in Sociology in Our Times by Diana Kendall, “education is the social institution responsible for the systematic transmission of knowledge, skills, and cultural values within a formally organized structure” (Kendall, 2015, p.363). Childhood education should not be taken for granted because it is what the child needs in order to function and be successful. How can one cut the budgets of something so necessary for the next generation of America? Children should be provided with the funds to receive an education that they will advance with.

The United States was built on sense of responsibility that was to be divulged to the entities that could recognize the voices of smaller people and not give too much power to the central government. The states are given the right to education to structure it as they please and fund it. It costs money to operate schools. Teachers need to be paid, buildings need to be maintained and supplies need to be bought. Some schools are funded significantly more than others and it because the funding distributed to the schools are based off of local property taxes everywhere except Hawaii. This means that wealthier communities can have better funded and prepared school systems because they have a higher tax base per pupil than the poor districts that have far fewer funds than them. In order to remedy this states have been trying to finance more of the cost of running schools from state revenues. In 970. States funded as much as 10% of the schools running but since 2000 the lowest contribution has been 20%.

The first amendment in The Constitution states that American citizens have the right to religiously express themselves. Although that is true, public schools should not be advertising clubs that would go against parents’ religious viewpoints. What if the child does not know what religion they identify under yet, or what if they are an atheist? These children might feel pressured and obligated to get involved spiritually in school, which can create awkward tension, arguments between peers, and violence. At such a young age, children should not be making life-changing decisions. As a result, this has been a controversial argument about whether religious clubs give children the opportunity to learn more and grow in their faith, or if these clubs do more harm to the children than it does good. Kids should just be kids and focus on who they want to be, not what someone else wants them to be. Religious clubs should not be allowed in school because they are concerning, there are a lot of rules and regulations, and they are a poor clout on kids.

Most school age children in the United States receive their education through the public school system. There are several components that must come together in unison in order for the US public schools to operate at maximum potential. Strong arguments can be made as to which of the components are most important. Many people believe that the most important components are; funding, and teachers. A free and public education is a constitutional right of all children in the U.S., even non citizens, and it is the responsibility of each state to ensure that all these

Public schools are considered the normal thing to do for children. When one thinks of where they see their child getting an education, it is typically a public school. Most children and adolescents dread going to school anyway, but why? Teens typically say they must go to school because they “legally” must. Even some parents may believe this excuse, but there are other options. Of course, there are private schools, home schools, charter schools, and even more options that could be better for students if public school is not efficient enough.

George Smith wrote that Thomas Jefferson believed the distribution of power among federal, state, county, and local agencies was indispensable to America’s “system of fundamental balances and checks for the government.” (Smith, 2012) Today federal, state, and local governments still play important roles in the operations of public schools through providing funding, policies, scope and organization of school systems. Through the years, the federal government has increased their position in governing public schools, state government works to guide and offer clarification, and local government is responsible for the day to day affairs.

This week the media was full of stories about the outrage regarding the severe cuts California is undergoing in the area of public education funding. California currently ranks 49th out of the 50 states in public school performance K-12. Most people are understandably perplexed about how we will improve school performance and close the achievement gap if we keep cutting the funding? A bit of a chicken and egg dilemma.